The quiet hum of a desktop filled the otherwise silent room. Behind the closed doors, an unkempt young man clicked and typed away at the keyboard. The young man's oily hair shined as the computer monitor illuminated his pale face. As the only light source in the room, the monitor hid away the many piles of unwashed clothes and leftover dishware. On the monitor, a webpage, a questionnaire full of bright colors and flashy images took the screen. The young man couldn't help but snicker at the absurdity.

"What kind of questionnaire is this? 'If you were a web novel protagonist, what kind would you be?' Why would I waste my time to do something as useless as this, tsk…" In the end, the waste of a human being still clicked on the start button. The first question had the young man tilting his head.

"Difficulty level? Is this a video game questionnaire in disguise? Whatever, as a man, I never turn down a challenge." The young man chose easy mode, the second easiest option on the list. The young man's actions spoke louder than his glib tongue.

Next was the type of genre/world and a whole list of options appeared, here the young man paused. It was a no-brainer for him, the young man chose the genre with the most potential, Eastern Fantasy. He was a sucker for the many spells and a wide range of unique abilities in that genre. One couldn't forget the many jade beauties found within the genre. Unsurprisingly the next question was the gimmick, and the list was long, very long. These gimmicks were sometimes called Golden Fingers, Golden fingers function to give the main character broken abilities. What fun would occur if the main character were constantly losing? To name a few in the list were, Heavenly Primordial Physique, Martial God Spirit, True Sin Of Gluttony, Blessed By The Heavens and Earth. Each name sounded cooler than the next, and equally vague in description. The young man didn't know which choice would be best, so he picked a gimmick and moved on with the questionnaire.

[Name: Zhu Xi

Age: 13

Golden Finger: Sword Immortality]

"Thank you for participating, good luck on your journey" The young man just scratched his head while looking at the final piece of text. He only had one thing to say, "What a shitty questionnaire-" An overbearing force knocked the young man unconscious before he could finish. An ethereal voice grumbled that the product was a work in progress in the young man's now empty room.

—

Hundreds of busy steps paddled the dirt road. Stalls of food, clothing, and trinkets lined the sides of the bustling street. The aroma of spices, fruits, and freshly cooked foods filled his nose. Peddlers wore robes of brown or yellow and shouted their prices, unwilling to make a loss. Buyers tried their best to haggle the price as low as they possibly could, and neither side was willing to take a loss. In a dark alleyway corner, away from the bustle and life of the street market, three members of the Wolf Claw gang encircled a young man.

"Zhu Xi, my friend, were a little short on money this week. Why don't you help a brother out?" Fang Gao asked with an artificial smile.

"Brother Fang Gao, I spent it all on food already…" Zhu Xi's breath halted as Fang Gao's fist slammed into his stomach. Zhu Xi crashed to the ground as his knees gave out.

"Now, now, Little Zhu Xi, it is not good to lie. We all know if you had bought food, we'd be seeing it on the floor any time now." Fang Gao's tattered shoe pressed on Zhu Xi's head.

"That new cleaning job at the Martial dojo shouldn't be paying that badly. Don't worry, I guarantee we'll pay it back." Fang Gao let up on the foot allowing Zhu Xi to pull his head up. Zhu Xi's eyes hesitated and his expression unwilling.

"You said that last time, and I've still yet to get my money back." A kick crashed into Zhu Xi's side as he rolled back to the dirt floor.

"Tsk, we told you last time that was for your protection fee. The other gangs might've gotten to you if it weren't for us. Why are you so ungrateful." Fang Gao explained cleanly in a sleazy manner. Although Fang Gao's cheeky grin, never once left his face.

"What Protection!? All You Guys Did Was Take My Money!!" One of Fang Gao's lackeys shut Zhu Xi up for him, delivering a brutal kick to his ribs.

"We try our best, but sometimes it's not enough. Life works in mysterious ways Little Zhu Xi, just like those scholars tend to say." Zhu Xi clutched his sides as he looked up with a sour expression. However, when he saw Fang Gao's frown, Zhu Xi gritted his teeth and spoke.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Fine, just this once. No more." Zhu Xi knew they would be back, but he still took out his coin pouch with a reluctant hand. The lackey snatched the pouch faster than a hawk swooping down. Out of the coin pouch poured ten copper coins into the lackey's palm.

"That's it? Since he's so insincere, cripple him." Fang Gao ordered coldly.

"Wait! Here!" Zhu Xi hastily pulled out five more copper coins from a secret pocket. A lackey stomped on Zhu Xi's leg before taking the coins, the Wolf Claw gang was well-versed in using the stick but not the carrot.

"Good, good. Your sincerity has touched my heart. Let's go." Fang Gao and his two lackeys ditched Zhu Xi who laid on the ground. As the footsteps gradually vanished, so too did the sorrowful expression on Zhu Xi's face vanish. The expressive face moments ago dissipated, a cold empty expression replaced it. The mask was peeled off, and the true Zhu Xi was revealed.

"Damn, thugs. I bet you don't even have a heart." Zhu Xi mumbled under his breath as he limped deeper into the alley. Zhu Xi navigated through the poorer regions of the town as though he had a map on the back of his hand. Zhu Xi peeked at his status and stared at the singular hope he had for a better future.

[Name: Zhu Xi

Age: 16

Golden Finger: Sword Immortality(Inactive)

Martial Arts Techniques: Stone Fist - (Tier 0: 4.3%)]

It has been 3 years since Zhu Xi has transmigrated to this bleak world. Zhu Xi reminisced of his naivety when he first arrived in this world. The first time Zhu Xi got extorted, he sought out the guards for help. But, instead of help, they attacked him. After that Zhu Xi was bedridden for the next three days, luckily his youthful vitality saved him from death. That experience showed Zhu Xi, that no longer was he in the modern world he once knew, instead a new ruthless world took its place.

The first 2 years were a struggle trying to figure out how to make a living. He scrapped low doing odd jobs, retrieving well water, using his knowledge of the city to help travelers for a price, and many more. All of which barely earned him enough to put food on the metaphorical table. Zhu Xi never stooped to the level of thievery or lower. This wasn't because of his morals, but simply because the consequences of failure were too much to bear. For the few that had tried, they listlessly wandered the streets with no hands slowly starving to death.

Zhu Xi pushed open the door to his house. He scanned the dust on his mud shed's floor, no shoeprints. A bed sat at the far corner of the room if you could call a pile of dried grass a bed. Zhu Xi made his way over to his bed with a rock in hand and pulled the dried weeds aside. He smashed the floor at a specific spot, and inside the crumbling cracking dirt was a pile of copper coins. A smile tugged at Zhu Xi's lips as he pulled out another five copper from another secret pocket in his clothes.

With a bit of deception he had saved 40 spare copper over the past 6 months since he got the new cleaning job. The new cleaning job was an unexpected treasure that fell from the heavens as the previous cleaner of the Martial Dojo had died. The cleaning job paid 20 copper coins a month, a decent sum for such a simple job. A good amount of coin went to food, and another lump went to the Wolf Claw gang. Whatever bit of coin he had rest would be stashed away.

Ever since he transmigrated his golden finger, Sword Immortality, remained inactive. The specifics of the cheat were unknown, however Zhu Xi innately knew that he required a sword for it to activate. The issue was that any low-quality sword cost at minimum a couple silver coins, and that was for the cheapest sword available. Even his current stash of 40 copper coins was dangerous, Zhu Xi had no way to defend his coins if anyone caught wind of it. It wasn't uncommon for someone to kill another for a single silver coin in the slums of the city.

Since any sword cost at least a few silver, carrying a sword around essentially painted a target on one's own back. In the end, Zhu Xi decided to take a gambit with the safer option than risk saving up silver coins. Zhu Xi navigated to the carpentry shop in the outer area of the city. This part of town was a little nicer than the slum his house was at, but not by much. Pushing open the shop door Zhu Xi walked towards the front desk.

"Greetings customer, how can I help you…" The carpenter looked up from the wood piece in his hand and scowled. "Oh, it's you. Wooden training sword for 40 not any lower-" Zhu Xi poured the 40 copper coins onto the counter, as the carpenter's eyes went wide.

"Hehe, dear customer thank you for your patronage." The carpenter scooped those coins up swiftly and left for the room in the back. The carpenter quickly returned with a wooden training sword. It was a plain wood sword, nothing special about it. Zhu Xi would've gone out of the city to make his own sword, but that would've been more costly than buying one. The tools would just be too expensive, and the dangers outside of the city walls were only for the desperate. The wild beasts that roam the forest could kill a man in seconds, and the hundreds of people that die every month out there was proof. Without guns, or even weapons, a normal human could only become a free meal for any lucky beast out in the forest.

The moment Zhu Xi's hand touched the handle, an immovable weight on his being suddenly stopped pressing. A giant sword made of perennial light encompassed Zhu Xi's soul. Within the Immortal Sword's embrace, Zhu Xi's being was pulled out from the river of time. The Immortal Sword acted as a boat to protect him, but still carried him down the river with everyone else. No longer will the dregs of time rust him away into fine sand. Zhu Xi has become immortal.